When the Blogger comments glitch happened earlier this week, I asked Google what was wrong and their Gemini AI facility anticipated other, related questions including, "What is the dark side of blogging?"
This is what Gemini coughed up and it may be of interest to other bloggers who like me are also actively steeped in the blogosphere and blog production.
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The dark side of blogging involves hidden mental, social, and professional pressures that come with sharing your life and work publicly online.
Burnout and Time Demands
Constant content pressure: You must keep publishing new material to stay relevant, which can drain your creative energy.
No real vacations: Taking a break often means losing readers, search engine traffic, and income.
Hidden workload: Writing is only a small part of the job; research, editing, promotion, and technical upkeep take up most of your hours.
Mental Health and Obsession
Metrics addiction: Constantly checking stats, page views, and follower counts can become an unhealthy obsession.
Harassment and trolls: Public writing invites negative comments, harsh criticism, and unwanted direct messages.
Fear of judgment: Knowing friends, family, or strangers might judge your opinions can cause chronic anxiety.
Impact on Personal Life
Strained relationships: You may spend less time with loved ones because you are always glued to a screen or thinking about your next post.
Loss of privacy: Blurring the line between your private life and public brand means past statements are permanently archived and searchable.
Trapped by past views: Publicly stating an opinion locks your identity into that view, making it harder to change your mind later.
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I can recognise some elements of all of this but really if these effects were obvious and burdensome, it would surely be time to give up blogging and take up a safer, less public hobby such as watching paint dry or counting coins.
Never mind the Negatives. Look at the Positives.
ReplyDeleteDecember 2015 : You curated an old ramshackle railway freight carriage,
out on the windswept moors of West Sheffield.
Many's a night, abed in Glasgow, I dreamt of that railway carriage.
I was tucked up in a sleeping bag, as I once slept out on Glastonbury Tor.
Slowly silently now the moon/ Walks the night in her silver shoon ;
This way and that she peers and sees/ Silver fruit upon silver trees.
Walter De La Mare
When you dream of the railway carriage do a couple of willing ewes join you to roast mutton?
DeleteNay, lad. A wee ginger-haired lassie sleeps naurby.
DeleteShe has a double pack of Sirloin Beef Sandwiches & Ginger Beer.
She sings Lark in the Clear Air as I drift away in the Yorkshire night.
Karine Polwart/ Lark in the Clear Air. YouTube.
The Lark in the Clear Air/ Irish Traditional Music. Lisa Dawson.
Iris - Kate Winslet singing A Lark in the Clear Air. YouTube.
Irish Murdoch was born in Dublin in 1919 but grew up in London.
I am not sure if most of that applies to purely amateur bloggers like ourselves. In my early days days of blogging, I did go out on a limb with my negative views about large, especially black, SUVs. Now, every second driver has one and its only those who don't have them agree with my views about them.
ReplyDeletePolitics is a touchy one, but as long you keep it reasonable, it is not usually such an issue, and you do attract people with similar views to your own.
Now, off to look at December 2015, and a freight carriage. Do you pay Haggerty to promote your blog posts of the past?
"Mr Haggerty" is a figment of my imagination, brought to life in the comments section to intrigue and baffle other visitors.
DeleteI'm glad I am not one who constantly checks stats, page views and follower counts. That's obsessive behaviour and just not me. I'm not one to be crying "why don't they like me?" I'm just happy to have people read my stuff and leave a comment.
ReplyDeleteWhen we remember how it all started when nobody came and then gradually we were noticed. That's kind of nice isn't it? Gives you a rosy glow.
DeleteI can see how some of this may be relevant for people who are blogging "commercially". For me personally my motivation was always just curiosity and a creative outlet (writing + photography) combined with keeping up my English and getting to know some random people out in the big wide world. I rarely remember to check my viewing statistics - but I did wonder this past week when suddenly almost no one at all seemed to be commenting on anything, anywhere! But then realised that I wasn't able to comment myself either, neither on my own blog, nor on others... Glad that got sorted out!! Blogging totally without any interaction at all with others probably wouldn't feel very meaningful in the long run...
ReplyDeleteI find that when I don't post for a few days or more, people will still read. I know I do.
ReplyDeleteI rarely look at stats, but I do check for and reply to comments - probably more than I should.
ReplyDeleteWell, as a very amateur blogger I don't have any problems with metrics addiction etc ... and certainly no problem whatsoever with missed holidays (vacations). I must be be doing something wrong.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Hardly any of that is relevant to me BUT there are things about blogging daily that do affect me in ways that aren't exactly positive. Mostly the time investment.
ReplyDeleteMr Gemini appears to be most astute. I should have him over for Tea.
ReplyDeleteEverything has good and bad contained within it I think. Certainly I struggle with how much to share and how much not to share, and often overshare according to someone who shall not be named.
ReplyDeleteI can see hints of everything that bothers me at times in the answer. It's always a matter of balance. A little is good, a lot is not good:)
I never check stats and only blog for my own benefit - as a diary to look back on. In the early days it was to help those living with an alcoholic, but not nowadays. I've often thought of stopping blogging. Watching paint dry might be an alternative but I am too busy helping other people with my volunteering to do that.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I only identify with a few of those -- I'm not worried about loss of metrics or followers because I don't monetize and I never look at any of that anyway. I don't have trolls, thank goodness. And I surrender the privacy quite willingly, so that's not a concern. About the only pressure I feel is the pressure to come up with content every day, and that's more a fun challenge than a negative obligation!
ReplyDeleteSince I am not a blogger (only a commenter), I can't imagine many troubles. Seems as if the bloggers I read enjoy creating and are happy to share their thoughts, ideas, experiences with others. Also, I think some bloggers treat their blog like a diary that they can always look back at to keep track of what has happened in their lives.
ReplyDeleteI have been blogging on one platform or another since 1997. My views and my life have changed drastically in the past 30 years. I am not the same person that I was when I started. Everything prior to 2007 was lost to hackers and sites being taken down. In a way it's a good thing because no one is out there looking for those old blog posts. I have marked everything since 2018 as private on this blog because I have changed so much that most of that isn't relevant anymore. I've gotten scammers trying to capture people in comments on my blogs, I have had trolls, I have been outted at work after a blog post by another blogger. But blogging mostly has been a very positive thing for me. It has saved my mental health when therapist were not much help. I am not sorry that I did it.
ReplyDeletePutting all this aside, blogging is a very challenging activity. It calls for many skills. For retired people it's a great activity.
ReplyDelete